In a briefing on Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer implied that Donald Trump would soon implement new guidelines to roll back Obama-era anti-discrimination protections for transgender students. These measures stemmed from a letter issued by former President Barack Obama to all public schools last May that not only detailed how to combat discrimination, but explicitly told administrators to allow students to use bathrooms in accordance with their gender identity—not their biological sex. Though Trump stated on the campaign trail that he believes people should be allowed to "use the bathroom they feel is appropriate," he seems to have reversed his position and is expected to introduce new guidelines that will undo the work of the Obama White House.

According to Spicer, the Trump administration believes that the "bathroom debate" is something best left to state legislators and they're ready to end the federal government's role in the matter. And since such an order would require sign -ff from both the Attorney General (Jeff Sessions) and the Secretary of Education (Betsy DeVos), the current White House narrative suggests that all parties are fully on board with Trump's planned actions.

A report from the New York Times on Wednesday, however, tells a different story. According to three Republicans with close ties to the internal back-and-forth, Education Secretary DeVos felt "uncomfortable" with undoing Obama's protections. Politico corroborated the story, and separate sources revealed that DeVos' approach varied from taking a more measured approach and allowing a public comment period on Trump's proposal, to opposing his actions altogether.

This is a major departure from Attorney General Sessions' approach to transgender rights. Throughout his time in the Senate, Sessions was a consistent opponent to extending LGTBQ rights, and his positions on such issues have undoubtedly transferred to his new role in Trump's cabinet. DeVos, on the contrary, said during her Senate confirmation hearing that she "fully [embraces] equality" and believes students should be able to attend schools feeling "safe" and "free of discrimination" (many of her family members, however, have donated to anti-LGBTQ causes). The Times further reports that Trump sided with Sessions in the debate over protecting transgender students and the two pressured DeVos into complying with them. Faced with either resigning or acquiescing to Trump and Session's position, DeVos gave in.

A draft of the measure, obtained by the Times, indicated that numerous lawsuits brought forward by states challenging Obama's rules are given as one of the reasons why schools should no longer follow them. In the conversations surrounding the language of Trump's forthcoming guidelines, DeVos urged the administration to include anti-bullying protections for transgender students. A line in the letter seemed to do just that, reading: "Schools must ensure that transgender students, like all students, are able to learn in a safe environment."

When asked about why the White House is so focused on issuing the new guidelines so early into the administration, Spicer indicated that the White House wanted to take on a clear position on transgender students ahead of next month's Supreme Court hearings for a case involving Gavin Grimm, a transgender boy from Virginia. Grimm sued his school board two years ago because he was not allowed to use the boys' restroom and was instead told to use a separate facility in a converted janitor's closet. Though the White House is still ironing out the final language of the order, the guidelines are expected to be issued later on this week.